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HTMLfixIT Archive for the ‘Android’ Category

There is an effort underway to have Google crippled by the EU authorities for being an anti-competitive monopoly. One of the main groups behind this effort is called “Fairsearch”.

Fairsearch themselves claim to be all about forcing transparency and innovation on search, but basically they appear to be an anti-google group made up primarily of Google competitors (Microsoft, Nokia and Oracle as well as other smaller competitors). What they appear to want to do, is force Google to link to them for services Google themselves offer. (for example, maps, shopping etc.)

They also seem to be fairly liberal with the truth, such as claiming that it’s impossible to have any other search than Google in Android despite the fact that at least half a dozen android devices have been released that have Bing or Yahoo as their default search. One of those phones was locked onto the alternative search and couldn’t be changed. So clearly those claims are untrue. Read up before you believe anything they say. They do after all have a vested interest.

Hiding behind trade groups and lobyists and trolls/shills so as to smear a competitor without smearing yourself should be illegal in all of its forms. Facebook were busted for this sort of thing recently too.

So in summary, if you want to read an unbiased discussion about Google, asking their competitors is not the way to go about it. Likewise if you want to use a different search engine to Google, change the URL at the top of your browser to one of the others or go into the android settings and change it there too. Unlike Microsoft’s anti-competitive history, there is no lock in here, alternatives are just a web address away.

Of course since Microsoft are dead against locking competing products out of phones and browsers, I imagine they will add options for native Chrome to be installed in Windows Phone and RT? And they will change the Sky-drive integration in Windows 8 to allow Google Drive, Dropbox or one of the others? If that sort of thing is actually illegal, how have Apple gotten away with only allowing their users to access services that Apple themselves approve of? As far as I am concerned, if you change one you should change them all. So every change Microsoft wants made to Google should also have to be made to Microsoft search and phone products too. This post is to help people find out who is really pulling the strings against Google. Oracle have just been beaten in court by Google and are appealing it. Nokia is getting it’s behind handed to it in the smartphone arena by Google Android and are a very very close partner with Microsoft who are of course Googles biggest competitor.

The court case between Apple and Samsung just got more interesting. Apple are always touting their innovation and Samsung has just pointed out in court that the iPhone would not exist had it not been for Samsung Technology. I have covered the non Apple innovations that the iPhone takes for granted before, but it’s nice to see others have noticed too.

I badly want to see Apple lose this case big time, and I want to see Microsoft’s license agreement with Samsung come to light in this case too. I also want to see Microsoft lose their case against Motorola. I want all of this for the same reasons. Apple and Microsoft want to use Patents to hold back competition so people have to accept less impressive technology for more money just so these two companies can profit more. Samsung was developing phone technology before either of the others and shouldn’t have to pay now just because they didn’t think it made any sense to patent crazy and simplistic ideas and designs. (Samsung could have patented music playing phones had they wanted too.) My message to Microsoft and Apple is a simple one, compete on your products merits and stop gaming the court system to get ahead.

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Time in Don's part of the world is:
March 31, 2015, 8:59 am
Time in Franki's part of the world is:
March 31, 2015, 9:59 pm
Don't worry neither one sleeps very long!